jaguar 
Columbia, in a region where cougar were common, | found 
them preying as freely on the goats as on the deer. It rarely 
catches antelope, but is quick to seize rabbits, other small beasts, 
and even porcupines. 
‘‘No animal, not even the wolf, is so rarely seen or so 
difficult to get without dogs. On the other hand, no _ other 
wild beast of its size and power is so easy to kill by the aid 
of dogs. There are many contradictions in its character. Like 
the American wolf, it is certainly very much afraid of man; 
yet it habitually follows the trail of the hunter or solitary trav- 
eller, dogging his footsteps, itself always unseen. When hungry 
it will seize and carry off any dog, yet it will sometimes go 
up a tree when pursued even by a single small dog wholly 
unable to do it the least harm. It is small wonder that the 
average frontier settler should grow to regard almost with super- 
stition the great furtive cat which he never sees but of whose 
presence he is ever aware. The cougar is as large, as powerful 
and as formidably armed as the Indian panther, and quite as 
well able to attack man; yet the instances of its having done 
so are exceedingly rare. But it is foolish to deny that such 
attacks on human beings never occur. . . . It cannot be 
too often repeated that we must never lose sight of the individ- 
ual variation in character and conduct among wild beasts.” 
Mexican Jaguar 
Felis hernandezii 
Length. 7 feet; tail, 2 feet. 
Description. A large leopard-like animal, tawny yellow above, 
white below, spotted with black along the back, and with 
black, light-centered rosettes on the sides, each with a cen- 
tral black dot. Tail ringed black and yellow. 
Range. Lower Louisiana, Texas, New Mexico and Mexico, and 
represented by allied varieties in Central and South America. 
This large cat, though common in Mexico, is of rare 
occurrence within the borders of our country, and like other 
species of Southern Texas, is only a straggler from farther south. 
Where plentiful, it preys on all sorts of animals, even 
overcoming the tapir with ease. Stories are told of its attacking 
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